A Brother's Secret
by Callia Sara
Summary: Hermione Granger was just a baby when she was placed in the muggle world by her brother. She enters the Wizarding world a muggleborn, but uncovers secrets about her past that she had never expected.
1. chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a cold night, this particular night. Freezing actually. No one was outside in the gloomy streets of England. Much like Lucius Malfoy, most people were sitting around a fire with a warm beverage in the hand.

Lucius frowned when he felt a change in the wards indicating that someone had entered his property. He hadn't been expecting anyone and looking at the sleeping witch whose head lay on his lap while her hand rested on her slightly swollen belly, he was certain she was not expecting anyone either.

Lucius gently lifted Narcissa off his lap, to go and investigate who had invaded his grounds unannounced.

As soon as he got to the door of the Manor, Lucius frowned as he noticed the form walking towards him. It was rare for anyone to have garnered enough respect from Lucius that he would be considered a friend. But the man before him was an old loyal friend. And as such, he knew that whatever the reason may be that he would show up so late at his door on such a bitterly cold evening, it was not good.

"Lucius, old friend. It is good to see you." Said the man, worry evident all over his face.

"Likewise, despite me not expecting this visit. Please, come inside." And then noticing the bundle in his friends arms, asked, "And what in merlins name are you carrying?"

"well you always said that I can come to you if I am ever in trouble and this," he started stepping into the warmth of the Manor and opening the bundle, "is why I'm here."

"Merlin is that a baby?" Lucius asked in shock.

"indeed."

"Is it yours?"

"no, she's not mine."

"Merlin don't tell me you kidnapped her. I mean if you did, we can handle this situation, but I didn't see you as the kidnapping sort. A power driven man you might be. But a kidnapper you most certainly are not despite the talk I constantly hear about you. "

The man laughed at his friends analysis of him, "I didn't kidnap her."

Lucius frowned, "Well could you please spell it out for me because I am not understanding what is going on here. Where is the child's parents?"

"They're dead. I didn't tell anyone about this to keep them protected amidst the war, but about a year ago my mother unexpectedly fell pregnant. Two months ago my parents were attacked by Starkley." He spat. "They did not survive it, leaving this child orphaned. She's my sister Lucius."

Lucius' eyes opened wide in shock at the news, "Starkley, he left the child unharmed?"

"she wasn't there the night he attacked. I had her at my place, wanting to give my parents time alone together, and when I went to return her the next morning…well." The man frowned, recalling the horror of finding the mutilated bodies of his parents. "And he came after me too a week later. I barely escaped with my life."

"You survived his attack." Lucius said in understanding.

"I did. And I don't know why he's attacking."

"we need to inform the Dark Lord of this."

"No." the man replied, "No one but you or I know about my sister and if we tell him…well... she's a weakness Lucius, a weakness to exploit, and I can't protect her. Not from the Dark Lord and certainly not from Starkley. It's to dangerous for her. And I will not cower Lucius. It's better that she be away from me before I succumb to the darkness I'm already starting to get drawn into. That's why I here."

"what do you need me to do?"

"I need you to plant her in the muggle world. I need her to grow up away from magic and all its danger. Away from me."

"if she's anything like you, she will not last long in the muggle world. Her magic will be too strong." The blond pointed out.

"If needs be, she needs to be portrayed at the very least a muggleborm. She can have no ties to me. I need you to handle this Lucius." The man said, with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"consider it done, old friend. But are you 100 percent sure about this? She's your blood. She's your family. We can find a way to handle this without alienating her from our world."

"It is not safe for her. I will protect her from the side lines as much as I can. But right now…she's better off without me. And as long as she's in this world, she's vulnerable to too much."

Lucius nodded in understanding, "I will have all arrangements sorted by tomorrow."

"Thank you." The man said, with a nod of his head. And with that he turned on his heel and left.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **a/n: *whispers: Its not Snape.**

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"Don't run in the house, Draco." Lucius drawled at the breakfast table.

"I'm sorry father. I was just excited."

"Yes well. Now that you're starting at Hogwarts, I have something very important to ask of you."

"Of course father."

"There is many things I have taught you regarding blood status and the beliefs we need to hold around our fellow pureblood witches and wizards. For this one time only, I want you to ignore that. There is a muggleborn witch that will be starting at Hogwarts along side you. Hermione Granger. She is a powerful witch and I have no doubt that she will grow up to be remarkable. I don't ask that you be her best friend Draco, but for reasons that I can discuss with you right now, I do ask that you look out for her whilst at Hogwarts. Don't let her feel excluded as most muggleborns do."

"Will that not label me a Blood traitor father?" Draco asked curiously.

"if she is sorted into Slytherin then you will be able to befriend her on the basis of 'house before blood'. Your Slytherin peers will acknowledge this as its been done for many years for half blood Slytherins."

Draco nodded in understanding, "And what if she doesn't get sorted into Slytherin? Surely she will not trust a Slytherin. The other houses will taint her opinion of us."

"indeed. That is why you are to seek her out on the train today. Befriend her enough that she will see the good in you. Let her formulate a good opinion of you before she learns of house prejudices."

Draco nodded, "I will not fail you, father."

"Good." Lucius said, "Now eat your breakfast." He said with a wave of his hand.

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Draco walked along the train, looking into each cart for a specific face. His father had pointed out the witch whilst they were on the platform, but the bushy haired girl had disappeared into the train before Draco had even said his goodbyes you his parents.

"Hey!" Draco heard a female yell, only then realising he had bumped into some one while getting lost in his own thoughts.

"I'm sorry, I didn't –" Draco started then recognised the witch in front of him. For a split second, he found himself speechless, then clearing his throat he continued, "My apologies. My mind was elsewhere."

"it's okay." She smiled at the boy.

"I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." The blond said, sticking his hand out for the witch.

"Hermione Granger." She said, happy to have encountered a friendly person considering how nervous she was, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

"do you have cart?" Draco asked quickly as she started to leave.

"Yes. I already settled my things in." She answered.

"do you mind sharing? I can't seem to find an empty one." He said.

"No problem at all," she smiled, "It would be nice to have some company. Although I did bring along a book to do some reading."

"Oh, I won't disturb. By all means, feel free to ignore me when you want some time with your book." He said, following the witch.

For the rest of the ride, Draco fulfilled his obligations by befriending the witch and getting to know her. He was a little surprised to find himself actually enjoying the witch's company. The fact that she was a muggleborm had only come up once and when she confided in him that she was nervous that she wouldn't be good enough for Hogwarts and that they had made a mistake or that they would kick her out. He responded by telling her that magic is magic, regardless of heritage and that she could do anything she put her mind to. He did forewarn her that her heritage will by scrutinized and that she will have to expect some people to not approve of her, but advised her to not let it get to her.

"I have no doubt that you will be a remarkable witch." He told her with a wink, "but do me a favour and don't tell anyone I said that. Malfoy's have a reputation of being cold and unfriendly, demanding respect. Wouldn't wanna ruin that." He said with a laugh.

She laughed at him and thanked him for his kind reputation-ruining words. And for the rest of the ride, they ate sweets from the trolley, spoke and sometimes debated about magic and magical creatures, as well as things Draco felt she should know about the Wizarding world, and then sat in a comfortable silence while Hermione read her book.

Draco looked curiously at the witch across from him. He didn't know why his father had instructed him to protect her, but he thanked Merlin he did. It would have been a pity if he were not able to befriend her due to here blood status. From the little time they spent together, Draco could tell that she was fiercely intelligent. From the friendly debates they had during their conversation, he could tell she was stubborn and opinionated. From the fact that she chose to spend the last hour of their trip reading about Hogwarts when she could have just been goofing off, he could tell she was dedicated. And with all of those traits coupled with her eagerness you learn, Draco found himself thinking the exact same thing his father did. Hermione Granger would be a remarkable witch.

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"Hermione Granger" called out the witch in the pointed hat who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall.

Hermione walked slowly towards the stool in front of the entire hall, nervous to be sorted into a house. She had heard someone mentioned that she was mental or something along those lines but she didn't care. 'Magic is magic' she told herself, willing herself to calm down, 'you will be a remarkable witch.'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Draco felt a little miserable following the prefects to the dungeons. A tiny part of him had hoped that a hermione would be sorted into Slytherin. But a bigger part of him had hoped at the very least she wouldn't be a Gryffindor. This just got a tiny bit more difficult.

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"It's Leviosa, not Leviosar. Honestly, she's a nightmare. No wonder she hasn't got any friends!" Draco heard the red-headed Weasley say, followed by Hermione running past them, barely holding back tears.

"I think she heard you." The blond heard Harry Potter say.

' _Idiots_.' Draco thought with a frustrated sigh. "I left something in the dorms," he told his friends, "see you later."

Draco followed the crying girl till he noticed her enter the girls bathroom. He quickly entered behind her, locking the door behind him after checking it was empty. "Hermione?" he called out.

"Hermione I know you're in here and I know you're crying." He called out again noticing only one closed door and figuring that was the stall that harbored his friend.

"Come on Hermione", he said sitting on the floor, leaning against the door. "if you won't come out, will you are least answer me." He said as gently as he could.

"Please tell me you're not crying about what that weasel said." Draco continued when he got no response. "he's an idiot. He's frustrated at his own incompetence and taking it out on you."

Hermione snorted at this, "He may be an idiot, but this time he's actually right. I don't gave friends. No one likes me." She said with a sob in her voice.

"But Hermione you do have friends. You have at least one. You have me." He said.

"Draco you have barely said two words to me since the day we were sorted."

"true. I'm sorry" He sighed, "the past few weeks have gone by in a blur. It feels like there's barely a free minute sometimes."

"I get what you mean. It's been crazy busy" She answered.

"Yeah," Draco laughed, "too busy answering every question in class or waving your hand around like a mad person." He teased.

"Hey! No fair." She protested.

"What?" he laughed, "it's true. But it's not a bad thing. Don't ever feel bad for being insanely intelligent. Or trying to be nice and helping someone learn a spell."

Hermione smiled at this, letting her head touch the toilet door of the stall she was in. "Thank you "

"Any time."

"Who would have thought that a trouble maker like you could actually be so nice?" Hermione teased.

"Hey! No fair." He said, mimicking her voice.

"Oh really?" She laughed, "was that stunt you pulled at flying lessons not trouble making?"

"That was trouble making gone wrong. Potter ended up getting into the quidditch team because of it." He rolled his eyes.

"He could have gotten into a lot of trouble though."

Draco snorted, "Unlikely."

"it's funny though, I thought we were getting closer, Harry, Ron and I. But obviously not."

"Maybe they saw you're horrible flying skills and we're like uh uh, she can't be our friend." He teased.

"Shut up!" She whined, "that is a soft spot. I've never been so blatantly horrible at something."

"that's because you're probably trying to learn it out of a text book. Don't think I didn't notice you reading a flying 101 book in the library. Take it from someone who's owned a broom since a baby, a training broom but a broom none the less. It's not something you can learn from a book. You just got to feel it."

Hermione huffed, "It's easier said than done."

"Maybe I'll teach you some day."

"That would be nice."

"Hey its probably almost dinner. We should get going. I'll even walk you up," he said with a light tone, "The dungeons are going to be empty soon. Wouldn't want you getting all spooked" He teased.

"Oh please," she snorted, "nothing can be as scary as that three headed dog on the third floor."

"what?" Draco asked.

"we found a ceberus. It's guarding something. I don't know what."

"hmm.." Draco said with a frown, "Well whatever it is, it's dangerous Hermione. Please don't do anything reckless.

"I won't."

"Good. Come, will you come out now so I can see your pretty face and bushy hair? Pretty please with a chocolate frog on top."

Hermione laughed and blushed slightly at the compliment and said, "Oh okay, because you asked so nicely."

"There, all red and snotty like I was expecting." He said with a wink, "beautiful."

She pulled her tongue at him, "Oh hush." knowing he was pulling her leg.

"Ready to go milady?" he asked offering her his arm.

She laughed at the blonde's antics, "No no, I'll see you up there."

He raised his eyebrow, "you sure?"

"Yes."

"Well just so you know, I will even expecting at the very least a wink from your direction at dinner. And if I don't see you, well I will personally come and drag you out of here."

Hermione laughed again, "you are ridiculous, you know that? Ridiculous and very kind."

"Only to you. Otherwise I'm the rich and handsome Slytherin bad-boy, soon to bd Slytherin prince." He said with a smirk, "see you later."

Hermione responded with a smile, watching her first, and so far _only_ , real friend leaving. She started to tidy up her uniform and fixing her hair.

Looking at herself in the mirror she said, "Hermione, get it together."

Rinsing her face and drying it, she turned to leave, stopping dead in her tracks.

"Hermione, move!" She heard a familiar voice yell.


End file.
